Sreejesh Ravindran

P  R Sreejesh, whose full name is Parattu Raveendran Sreejesh is a hockey player who plays for India. He was born in Kochi, Kerala, India on May 8, 1988, into a family of farmers. Parattu is the son of Usha and P. V. Raveendran. He went to St. Antony's Lower Primary School in Kizhakkambalam and St. Joseph High School. However, Parattu could study until only sixth standard. He was extremely active since his childhood days and took training in sprinting.

Parattu later started to play volleyball and long jump. He then enrolled himself into GV Raja Sports School in Thiruvananthapuram. There Parattu's coach recommended him to start playing hockey as a goalkeeper. He heeded his advice and soon impressed Ramesh and Jayakumar Kolappa who took Parattu under their wing. He begins to play the sport at the school level and then competed in Nehru Cup. Parattu also holds a graduation degree in history from Sree Narayana College located in Kollam, Kerala.  

In 2004, he played for the junior national team. His first match of the tournament was against Australia at Perth. Within two years he managed to catch the selectors' eye who picked him up for the senior squad. In 2008, Parattu became the Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament. However until 2011 he wasn't a regular member and would often miss out on the chance to play due to other goalkeepers like Bharat Chettri and Adrian D'Souza. But his performance in Asian Champions Trophy Final where he saved two penalty shots again Pakistan earned him a permanent spot in the team.

Parattu was the goalkeeper of the Indian side which participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2014 Commonwealth Games, and Asian Games, 2016 Men's Hockey Champions Trophy and much more. After the retirement of Sardar Sing the authorities entrusted to him the responsibility of captaining the troupe. Under his captaincy the squad has been performing exceedingly well.

Parattu was a part of the Hockey India League. Mumbai Magicians bought him for thirty-eight thousand dollars. Parattu represented them for two seasons before Uttar Pradesh Wizards acquired him for sixty-nine thousand dollars. Before Hockey India League he was a part of World Series Hockey's Chandigarh Comets and Indian Overseas Bank. The government of Kerala has employed him as a Chief Sports Organiser for their education department. Parattu's wife's name is Ayesha. She was an athlete too. Currently Ayeesha works as an Ayurvedic doctor. She gave birth to Parattu's daughter in the year 2014 and named her Anushree.

Another version of this bio...

Parattu Raveendran Sreejesh is a well-known hockey player in Kerala, India. He was the goalkeeper and former captain of the Indian National team. He was born on 8 May 1988 in Pallikara, Kochi. He was born to a family of farmers. He studied at Kizhakkambalam and pursued graduation in History from Sree Narayana College, Kollam, Kerala. He was an athlete and used to play long jump, sprints, and volleyball before moving to hockey. At the young age of twelve, he joined GV Raja Sports School in Thiruvananthapuram and was selected by the coach Jayakumar at school, who suggested he play as a goalkeeper. After that, he played in the Nehru Cup.

He made the Junior National Team for the match against Australia in Perth. , he debuted in the Senior National Team at the South Asian Games, Colombo. He was awarded Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament at India’s win in the Junior Asia Cup, in 2008. In 2012, he played for India at the Summer Olympics, London, and World Cup in 2014. In the 2013 Asian Cup, he got the second award for the Best Goal Keeper of the Tournament, in which India finished second rank. In 2016, Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy, he became the captain of the Indian team, and the team won a silver medal in London.

In 2016, the Olympics in Rio India, reached the tournament’s Quarterfinals with his contribution. In the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the Indian team got a Bronze medal after 41 years in which Sreejesh played an essential role in winning. He has participated in Common Wealth 2022, and his team won a Silver medal. In 2022, the Asian Games Hockey team won a Gold medal. He was also a part of the 2023 Asian Champion Trophy Winners team. He also played in the Hockey India League for Mumbai Indians in 2012 and 2013 and Uttar Pradesh Wizard in 2014.

For their contribution to sports, he received the Khel Ratna Award, the highest sports award in India in 2021. In 2022, he also won the World Athlete Award of the Year 2021. He was also honored with Arjuna Award in 2015 and Padma Shri in 2017. He is also a Joint Director (Chief Sports Organizer) with the Kerala Government in the General and Higher Education Department.